Gourmet: From a Stall in Northern Europe-Chapter 170 - 134: Five Hours of Deliciousness, Deluxe Fresh Fish Purée Rice Noodle Soup (Part 2)

"Fridge! Great, the fridge is fine."

"Stove? No, just made four portions, no problem at all."

Instinctively, he lifted the cover of the ice maker next to the fridge for a peek.

All good.

No ice.

This thing has gone AWOL.

"Ha, really? Buddy, there's a high-power ice maker in the restaurant behind me, who are you trying to scare~"

That kid Lucas now has to make some drinks every day; he feels uneasy without it. Ice cubes must be prepared, and foreigners drink ice water on average. He personally is crazy about ice water.

In such hot weather, how can one not drink something icy?

When he went to the restaurant to turn on the ice maker and confirmed it was working fine, two figures surprisingly appeared next to the food cart.

"Excuse me, are you the chef at this restaurant?"

"Yes, that's me."

"Great, I didn't expect to have breakfast so early! We just returned from watching the sunrise and were worried about where to eat. The front desk lady recommended us to come here."

The man was quite talkative, while the woman curiously peeked inside the window, wanting to see what delicious food was available.

However, except for a tub of unknown liquid and another that looked like fine noodles, there was nothing else to see.

"What's available here? I just saw the front desk lady with a bowl of something like seafood noodles. Is it purchased from here?"

"Yes."

Lin Chen nodded and bent down to take out the prepared ingredients from the fridge one by one.

"Today, we're selling Great Xia's version of Marseille Fish Soup noodles, using a rich broth boiled for over four hours from more than a dozen assorted fish, paired with thin rice noodles, and has accompaniments like salmon, cod, octopus, and mussels."

"Additionally, there's limited salmon belly that can be added."

"One bowl of fish soup noodles is 25 euros, a single slice of salmon belly is 2 euros. If you need extra salmon, a single slice is 1 euro, and rice noodles can be refilled endlessly."

"Fish soup noodles?"

Both knew Marseille Fish Soup; they had it last night and really liked the taste, although it was priced higher than here. It seems the dish is indeed within this price range.

But Great Xia's version of Marseille Fish Soup, with added rice noodles, was beyond their realm of understanding.

The man exchanged a glance with his girlfriend.

"Since it's a food cart run by a restaurant head chef, there should be quality assurance, let's try one bowl first."

Having fish soup early in the morning is indeed an uncertainty for them, but they were starving, and this was better than eating a burger at Maccy D's.

Being on vacation, who wants to eat that stuff?

"Sure, cash or card?"

"Card, please."

After paying, Lin Chen skillfully ignited the stove to heat the pot of clean water, while scooping two spoonfuls of fish puree soup into another milk pot to heat on low heat.

Blanch the seafood, heat the rice noodles, plate, pour over fish soup, garnish with seafood.

The entire process was fluid, as if not making a dish but an artwork, directly leaving the pair stunned.

"Here, it's a bit hot. Be careful when eating it, mix well before eating, and ask me for more rice noodles if needed."

A one-third bowl of rice noodles is not much; those with big appetites can finish it clean in three chops with chopsticks.

He wasn't worried they'd just order that one bowl. New customers, it's normal to be cautious; once they taste it, they'd order more.

Having set up the stall for this long, he almost mastered the mindset of foreign customers.

As long as the food he made looked and smelled acceptable, there's over a ninety percent chance they'll reorder, especially for dishes similar to local specialties, with the likelihood hitting one hundred percent.

He also wasn't afraid of folks milking him dry, like simple noodle refills.

Foreigners don't think as swiftly as Asians, nor do they have a concept of saving money. As long as they're happy, spending money is no issue.

"Here, darling, take a taste first."

The man was extremely gentlemanly holding the bowl, afraid his girlfriend might get burnt. They appeared extremely in love, probably here for something like a honeymoon.

The woman smiled at him warmly, broke the chopsticks apart, pinched a piece of pink salmon, dipped it in fish puree soup, held it close to her nose and sniffed.

A rich black pepper scent and strong fish aroma indeed reminiscent of Marseille Fish Soup, but smelling completely different.

The preparation of Marseille Fish Soup usually includes canned tomatoes and onions for sweetness—in front of them, this bowl seemed free of such, just pure fish fragrance.

She felt secure about the salmon, didn't think much, just shoved the whole piece into her mouth and chewed.

"?!"

Upon experiencing the marvelous melt-in-mouth sensation, the woman instantly widened her eyes, excitedly waving her chopsticks.

"This, this taste, how to describe it, somewhat akin to… ah! Like the gravy atop mashed potatoes but with a seafood flavor and lots of black pepper, do you get it, darling?"

With her description, the man immediately reacted: "Sounds good, have a taste of the rice noodles? If the sauce is made from fish, surely it'll be a great dip."

"Okay, but you eat these two pieces of salmon first, I shouldn't be eating alone."

With that, the woman picked up the remaining two slices of salmon, swished them in the fish puree soup, thoughtfully blew on them before handing them to the man's mouth.

"Ah~ Mmm~"

Lin Chen twitched slightly, always feeling as if he's being a sucker lately, like pricking a couple's nest, why does every couple have to flaunt love in front of him?

Having tasted the delicious salmon, the man made a decisive turn to face him: "Sir, please make us another bowl. The salmon belly is limited, right? I'll take six slices!"

Those who love sashimi know the rich fatness of the belly is unmatched by any other part of the fish's body, much like pork belly being the most popular part of the pig.

The salmon belly's oily aroma is intense, mouthfuls of sheer happiness.

But because of its overwhelmingly rich taste, most sashimi enthusiasts don't eat much; only a few who can handle the richness can wolf it down.

Taking this into account, Lin Chen planned to handle the six slices of belly using a special cooking method.

The initial process remained the same; finishing with a pour-over of fish puree soup, the seafood was yet to be placed on top. First, the six slices of belly were evenly layered atop the fish puree.

Picking up the flame torch, twisting the valve, a warm orange flame slowly swept across the belly.

The torch's heat is exceptionally high, staying at a spot for over a second starts to sizzle the food's surface with oils bubbling; any longer and it gets scorched, so he moved and grilled at the same time.

He toasted the surface of all six slices of belly to a slight charred-brown edge, then folded them with chopsticks and plated them, before being garnished with the remaining seafood.

Without doubt, adding six slices of belly elevated the appearance of this bowl of fish puree noodles immediately by several levels, nearly half the bowl was thick salmon meat.

While he was making the soup and noodles, the couple had already finished the prior bowl of rice noodles, leaving only a slight residue of fish soup.

The girl obviously had enough but still had a strong desire for more salmon belly.

This bowl looked so good; they hadn't had time to photograph the previous one, this time they definitely couldn't miss it.

Took a few snaps quickly, fearing the noodles would cool and taste fishy, she hurriedly pinched a couple slices of belly, eager to taste this limited delicacy.

With fish entering her mouth, an intense grilled aroma hit, that kind of smoked flavor perfectly showcasing the salmon belly's richness, its surface crisp.

Especially the slightly charred edge, crunching loudly when chewed as if forming a delicate crispy sheath around the fish.

The grilled fish belly's fats were already melting, intertwined with half-cooked fish meat, like consuming delicious salmon-flavored butter, barely any need for chewing.

"Wow… absolutely amazing!"

Seeing his girlfriend eating so greedily, the man couldn't hold back anymore, his eye catching a small table and stools nearby. Quickly, he grabbed the plastic soup bowl and went to sit down, still not forgetting to wave to Lin Chen.

"Boss, please add some rice noodles for me, thank you!"